So here is the promised review of Lake Lure, NC, the place where "Dirty Dancing" was filmed. If you saw my earlier post about Chimney Rock, I mentioned I would write another post about Lake Lure. If you are not familiar with the area, they are both in the same location, but my other post was quite lengthy. Let's face it, I'm long winded.
My husband and I took a pontoon boat tour. The tour guide told us that Lake Lure is a man made lake, dug out in the shape of a cross. The lake is surrounded by mountains, and it is absolutely mesmerizing. Just a recap from the Chimney Rock post, in this picture we are standing on top of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure is in the background.
However, this is us being silly on the pontoon boat tour. You can start to see some of the homes on the side of the lake. The tour guide told us that the real estate there is worth a lot of money. Some of the houses were worth over a million US dollars. It was so beautiful, and such a quaint area, that I could imagine people with money would want to live there.
Here are more shots from the pontoon boat. Pictures do not do it justice, but I find that with most places that I travel to.
This is the lake that Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze practiced their lifts for in the Dirty Dancing movie. When filming the movie, they had to paint the leaves green to make it look like it was still summer time. People come running to the North Carolina mountains about middle to late October because the leaves start changing colors and the mountains look like they have been splashed with colors of amber, orange, and crimson. It's breathtaking.
The tour guide said this is the area where there used to be beach sand and they filmed the cast when they were laying out beside the water. However, the sand was removed. He also said some old cabins were there that were in the film, but as you see they have now been replaced with homes and a dock.
This is the stairs that was seen during "Dirty Dancing." The tour guide said they were the stairs that "Baby" carried the watermelons, like that was the most memorable moment with those stairs. I was thinking, has this man not seen "Dirty Dancing," let me off this boat so I can dance on those stairs like "Baby." Unfortunately, we did not get off the boat to explore the area. I have to keep dreaming that I'm dancing down those stairs to the song "Wipe Out."
When we first arrived to Chimney Rock, we rode past what looked like a beach. This area has beach sand, and during the summer people come here to swim in the lake. It was too chilly for us to partake in swimming, but I am sure it's a nice place to visit during the summer months.
I love my home state! North Carolina has lots of beautiful areas to visit. This is why movies have been filmed here. If you get a chance, look at my post where I went to visit District 12 from Hunger Games that was also filmed in North Carolina.
